Lindsey McKim and Building a Culture of Preparedness
Spotlight: Fall 2025 Classified Staff Excellence Award recipient
Emergency Manager Lindsey McKim builds a bridge between policy and people, theoretical preparedness and lived reality, logic and humanity. She brings a human-centered approach to compliance, shaped by psychology and real-world experience. To Lindsey, emergency management isn’t a set of rules to enforce, but a system designed for real people—how they naturally think and react.
Lindsey’s connection to Clark began more than a decade ago. She first came to the college as a student, athlete, and part-time employee at the bookstore before transferring to Washington State University Vancouver.
While studying at WSU Vancouver, she majored in psychology with minors in criminal justice and addiction studies, initially considering a career in forensic psychology or psychology within the prison system. She was drawn to understanding how the brain works and why people do what they do.
During that time, she was a cadet at the Sheriff’s Office and, after graduating, worked as a corrections deputy. She quickly realized that path wasn’t the right fit. Instead of continuing an expected trajectory, Lindsey listened to her intuition and explored other options, returning to Clark as a full-time security officer before moving into her current role a year and a half ago.
Now, Lindsey is responsible for writing emergency response policy and procedures, overseeing emergency preparedness, and conducting drills and collegewide trainings. Her background in psychology continues to inform how she approaches that work.
“As you’re writing policy and coordinating drills, you have to look at how people are typically going to respond in an emergency situation and format your procedures in a way where you’re not forcing people to do something that would feel foreign, but would make sense,” she explained. “People typically respond in very similar ways, so how do we formulate policy that makes sense for those responses?”
Lindsey’s favorite part of her role is seeing the direct impact of her work across the Clark community. Earlier in her career as a security officer stationed at Columbia Tech Center, she had limited interaction with employees on the main campus. Now, the policies, trainings, and drills she helps design affect every campus location and department.
“Seeing the fruits of the labor and getting all the positive feedback that we’ve been receiving has been the nicest thing to see,” she said.
Feedback from post-drill surveys is especially valuable, offering Lindsey insight into how employees experience drills and emergencies across campus.
She has also seen small but meaningful shifts in Clark’s safety culture. During the COVID-19 pandemic, much of the college’s emergency preparedness work was paused as employees focused on responding to the immediate crisis, and responsibility for preparedness became more siloed within departments.
“My hope is that, with all the changes we’re doing and the trainings we’re offering, we’re helping the culture shift back to what it was pre-COVID,” she shared. “That’s my biggest goal—baby steps at a time.”
One of Lindsey’s nominators highlighted her collaborative approach, citing her partnership with Facilities, Security, and IT to streamline emergency communications and drill coordination.
“Rather than simply issuing instructions, Lindsey hosted planning sessions and open discussions that invited input from every stakeholder,” they said. “This collaborative approach created shared ownership and improved participation across the board.”
Looking ahead, Lindsey is excited about the emergency preparedness training opportunities planned for 2026. She is organizing monthly sessions featuring guest speakers on a range of topics. Representatives from CRESA will discuss at-home preparedness and psychological first-aid, the Washington State Military Department’s Emergency Management Division will present on geology and earthquake hazards in the Pacific Northwest, and the Vancouver Fire and Police Departments will share their perspectives on active threat scenarios.
“I’m excited about bringing in outside speakers to offer their expertise and a different perspective,” Lindsey said. “Every single entity typically has its own version of emergency management, so a lot of agencies are doing similar work.”
Lindsey also collaborates with internal departments such as the Disability Access Center to ensure procedures are inclusive and accessible. This work includes tailoring guidance for assisting students with functional needs during winter weather events and translating communications into braille. Inclusion remains central to her approach, from updating the college’s mass notification system to introducing color-coded visual alerts and revising emergency message templates to use clearer, more accessible language with multilingual resources.
Another nominator noted, “Her thoughtful approach to inclusive communication has strengthened trust and improved response readiness across the college.”
Outside of work, Lindsey gravitates toward hobbies that allow her creativity to take the lead. From cross-stitching and photography to butterfly mounting, she values activities that give her mind a break.
“The hobbies I’ve chosen don’t require a lot of brain power,” she said. “I’m doing muscle-memory work, so I’m not having to think about what I’m doing next. At work, it’s the opposite—I’m always thinking about logical steps or procedures, or worst-case scenarios. My hobbies are the balance.”
She always brings her camera while hiking—another activity that allows her to step back from the intensity of emergency preparedness. A lover of nature who has 80 houseplants, Lindsey also hopes to visit all 63 national parks in the U.S. So far, she’s made it to 21—“a third of the way there!”
Whether she’s hiking toward her next national park or preparing for emergencies at the college, Lindsey approaches each step forward with intention, continuing to shape a culture of preparedness at Clark.
About the Classified Staff Excellence Awards
The Classified Staff Excellence Award was established in 2005 and recognizes classified staff who have demonstrated exemplary work performance, a positive and cooperative spirit, special achievements or contributions to the college community, and support for individual and organizational diversity and inclusion. The award is presented at the end of every term. Through the support of the Clark College Foundation, the recipient will receive a $400 cash award and is eligible to win the annual Exceptional Classified Staff Award. Nominations are open for the winter term. Nominate a classified staff member and learn more about the award here.
Photos: Clark College/Jenny Shadley (featured photo) and Lindsey McKim
Story by Malena Goerl, Staff Writer, Communications and Marketing